The Microsoft Flight Simulator system requirements have been revealed ahead of its release sometime later this year. Fortunately for simmers keen to get stuck in, it looks like the much-anticipated title won't be too demanding in of its minimum requirements, though there are 'recommended' and 'ideal' suggestions, too, if you're looking to hit the higher performance tiers.
Microsoft has unveiled the requirements on the lavish cockpits, the minimum specs might surprise you, needing 2GB of VRAM, 8GB of RAM, 150GB HDD, and a Ryzen 3 1200 or Intel i5-4460 U.
However, at the other end, the 'ideal' specs suggest a Ryzen 7 Pro 2700X or Intel i7-9800X U instead. Let's take a look at those Microsoft Flight Simulator system requirements in full (via Microsoft):
Microsoft Flight Simulator Minimum System Requirements:
| Minimum Spec (AMD) | Minimum Spec (NVIDIA) | |
| Minimum OS Version | Windows 10 (Nov 2019 update - 1909) | Windows 10 (Nov 2019 update - 1909) |
| U | Ryzen 3 1200 | Intel i5-4460 |
| GPU | Radeon RX 570 | NVIDIA GTX 770 |
| VRAM | 2GB | 2GB |
| RAM | 8GB | 8GB |
| HDD | 150GB | 150GB |
| Bandwidth | 5Mbps | 5Mbps |
Microsoft Flight Simulator Recommended System Requirements:
| Recommended Spec (AMD) | Recommended Spec (NVIDIA) | |
| Minimum OS Version | Windows 10 (Nov 2019 update - 1909) | Windows 10 (Nov 2019 update - 1909) |
| U | Ryzen 5 1500X | Intel i5-8400 |
| GPU | Radeon RX 590 | NVIDIA GTX 970 |
| VRAM | 4GB | 4GB |
| RAM | 16GB | 16GB |
| HDD | 150GB | 150GB |
| Bandwidth | 20Mbps | 20Mbps |
Microsoft Flight Simulator Ideal System Requirements:
| Ideal Spec (AMD) | Ideal Spec (NVIDIA) | |
| Minimum OS Version | Windows 10 (Nov 2019 update - 1909) | Windows 10 (Nov 2019 update - 1909) |
| U | Ryzen 7 Pro 2700X | Intel i7-9800X |
| GPU | Radeon VII | NVIDIA RTX 2080 |
| VRAM | 8GB | 8GB |
| RAM | 32GB | 32GB |
| HDD | 150GB SSD | 150GB SSD |
| Bandwidth | 50Mbps | 50Mbps |
That's all we've got for the Microsoft Flight Simulator system specs. There's no word of a set release date for the sim just yet, though it's expected to drop sometime in 2020. Be sure to head over to our partner site PCGameBenchmark to compare your computer spec and answer the question, "can I run Flight Sim 2020?".